


Antsy

by DktrAgonizer



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Ants, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-01
Updated: 2014-05-01
Packaged: 2018-01-21 13:46:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1552577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DktrAgonizer/pseuds/DktrAgonizer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are ants in the mansion. Die doesn't handle it very well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Antsy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gray_Days](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gray_Days/gifts).



There are ants in the mansion again. 

The moment he first sees them, trailing from somewhere under the kitchen cabinets to the pantry, Die snatches a pin from his hat and stabs it into his doll. He finds himself staring at the mangled corpse of Doze, wounds from some knife all over his fat body and a red smile stretching over his blubbery throat from ear to ear.

It’s quiet and nobody else is around, so it’s safe. Die breathes out and relaxes the grip on his doll somewhat, eyes trained on the blood seeping from the gash in Doze’s throat. He stays there for a long time - he doesn’t keep track of how long, exactly - just watching the body. Underneath the scent of blood is the scent of shit and piss, but Die doesn’t pay it any mind. It’s normal. Nobody can have a dignified death when they shit themselves after their stupid hearts stop beating. He’ll have to rub this in his timeline’s Doze’s face later.

Eventually, he can hear voices coming from somewhere deeper in the mansion. He ignores them at first, until they start getting louder. Still, Die sits and stubbornly refuses to leave until the door to the room is thrown open. Die looks up to see Crowbar and Fin standing there and staring at him. “Die-” Crowbar gets out, but then Die’s got Doze’s pin pulled from the doll and his back in his own timeline. 

He forgot about the ants. When he sees them again, scurrying across the floor not five feet away from him, Die’s automatic response this time is to throw something at them. It’s only after he’s spiked the doll as hard as he can into the ground that he realizes he should have looked for something else to grab.

A desperate whine starts in his throat as he hurries to where he threw the doll, dropping to his knees amidst the scattered ants to pick it up. There’s a lot of ants and they’re everywhere, and there’s already several on his doll. Die tries to scramble to his feet but he falls back when a few of the ants move onto his hand. He scoots himself backwards on the floor, beating the doll mercilessly at a clean part of the floor to shake the ants off, but then drops it when he remembers the ones on his hand. He shakes his hand wildly and shrieks.

After a few moments of useless flailing, somebody grabs him by the armpits and hoists him onto his feet. Die stumbles forward, reaching up to grab a pin to stab at his attacker.

“Die, it’s okay, it’s okay.” Die stops short of jamming his Droog pin into Matchstick’s chest when he whirls around to look at the bigger man. Matchsticks holds up both his hands, palms facing outward. “It’s okay, I’m here to help.”

Die watches through narrowed eyes as Matchsticks bends to pick up the doll and gently brushes off the remaining ants from it. Die’s hand closes over the pin, ignoring the sharp pain that comes from it accidentally digging into a finger.

Then he realizes he’s still covered in ants.

Die shrieks again, dropping the pin to swat uselessly at his body. He feels itchy, like there are things crawling everywhere and getting into his clothes, under his skin. Matchsticks looks at him in alarm.

“Die, it’s okay,” Matchsticks says again - loudly, to make himself heard over Die’s screams. “There’s nothing on you, you’re fine, look.”

“You’re lying!” Die gasps out, continuing to swat at his body. One hand rips at his sleeves, determined to tear his infested clothes off and get them far away from him. The other hand runs across his face, nails digging into his cheek as he imagines the ants burrowing their way inside his skin.

When Matchsticks grabs his wrists, Die thrashes and tries to headbutt him so he’ll let go. But he doesn’t. Die keeps fighting until he wears himself out a minute or two later, giving up and sagging against Matchstick’s chest. He breathes in short, ragged gasps, letting his arms dangle limply at his sides when Matchsticks lets his wrists go.

Matchsticks puts a hand, gently, on Die’s shoulder. Die’s head jerks, but he makes no move to shake the other man’s hand off. “You’re fine,” Matchsticks says. “There’s nothing on you.”

Die doesn’t reply. They stand in silence for a long moment until Die’s breathing slows down into calm, even breaths. Matchsticks leads Die out of the kitchen and stops in the hallway to hand him back the doll. “Here.”

Die snatches the doll back and stares hard at it, turning it over in his hands to make sure it’s clean. “Go have a seat, or lie down or something,” Matchsticks tells him, letting go of his shoulder. “I’ll get Crowbar and we’ll take care of the ants.”

Die stares at him, then reaches up and nabs a pin from his hat. He’s only just got time to hear Matchsticks sigh before he jabs Sawbuck’s pin into the doll and goes off to another timeline.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Consider leaving a comment letting me know your thoughts; I'd love to read them!


End file.
